Short’s Brewing Company of Bellaire, MI, the third largest brewery in the state of Michigan, is decreasing distribution territory due to increasing sales and corresponding low inventory levels.

Short’s plans on pulling out of Pennsylvania immediately with the potential of decreasing their distribution footprint further in the coming months. The decision was made solely due to the brewery’s need to increase inventory to a manageable level. “Currently, about 80% of our product is hitting shelves in a week, and many times, the next day” says Scott Newman-Bale, Partner at Short’s.

Despite managing to scrape through the summer, inventory levels are putting additional pressure and stress on the Short’s production team and distribution partners. “We want to thank all of the distributor teams we work with for their endless support in these exceptionally busy months. Our Michigan distributor, Imperial Beverage, has changed schedules daily for us and their employees are working late to accept trucks so we can continue keeping beer on shelves. Their strong representation and efforts have led to sales growth we cannot supply. We also want to specifically thank our Pennsylvania partners as we enjoyed working with Wilson McGinley in Pittsburgh and 31st and Wharton in Philadelphia. It was very difficult to make the decision to pull out of their distribution territories,” said Newman-Bale.

Short’s is working diligently to increase production efficiencies in the coming months to alleviate pressure on growing demand. “We are looking forward to using the upcoming months to focus on our home market and be a stronger and more equipped brewery for future growth and innovation.”

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Cast Info

Host: Jon Wojtowicz

Jon (aka The Woj) is the Head of Beer Liberation and Field Representation at Short's Brewing Company. Coming on board back in Feb 2007, Woj has spent time in many various roles with the company including Deli and Pub Manager, Beer Liberator, and Unofficial Short's Historian. A lover of music, Chicago style hot dogs, and of course beer, he has successfully managed to incorporate all of these passions into many different avenues here at Short's!

Producer: Mike Moran

Mike is the Short's Cast podcast producer by day and musician by night. Mike founded his podcast production company in January 2013 and started production on Short's cast in October 2013. He is a lover of weird noises, the scientific method, Northern Michigan, and bourbon barrel aged beers (specifically Bourbon Magician).

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 10 years since we moved into the Elk Rapids Production Facility. Officially coming online in early 2009, Batch #1 was Pandemonium Pale Ale, quickly followed by some Bellaire Brown and Huma Lupa Licious. Since then,Read More